I was traveling recently and needed to rent a car to visit various locations for meetings once I landed. So I was standing outside with the other schnooks waiting for the dreaded tram as every other carrier but mine passed by. A big empty Enterprise bus wizzed past. The Alamo guy didn’t see any takers so he slowed down but kept right on truckin. Budget picked up one guy with a dog. Avis took a small group of Japanese tourists. But the majority of the crowd I was standing with was waiting for the Hertz shuttle. Apparently everybody Hertz.
Finally our bus appeared and it was like a stampede to schlep our bags on board, store them in those makeshift luggage holders, and hold on for dear life while the driver careened into the next terminal to pick up additional frustrated travelers. Finally she offloaded the lot of us at the mothership. My 50 new angry, sweaty friends and I all piled into the Hertz house to claim our Sonatas from the fleet of bland everyman cars. Off we all went in scattered directions, free waters in hand and Waze already suggesting directions to guide our pavement paths.
A few days later I was back at the lot, carefully rolling over those spikes with the huge DO NOT BACK UP signs warning of a complete tire blowout if I dared to change my mind. (I didn’t.) There was no agent there to greet me. It was a drop don’t stop situation where they just email you the final bill after you abandon your vehicle. Fine by me. I flagged down a bus from the three packed ones idling in the front to secure my ride back to the terminal. I was the 59th passenger on a bus that holds 60. I shared the metal pole as we drove back through traffic and I thankfully hopped off at the first stop. When we pulled up to the curb, there was of course an angry crowd of foot tappers anxious to board the waiting tram. Apparently everybody Hertz!
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